


The Healing of Hurts

by Ezekiel Grayson (MordeshLibertine)



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Domestic Fluff eventually, F/M, Kinda Hurt/Comfortish I think?, Slight AU/Rewrite of Return of the King, written in the style of the books
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:55:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27063760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MordeshLibertine/pseuds/Ezekiel%20Grayson
Summary: Merry Brandybuck finds that he cannot stay abed at the Houses of Healing, and instead seeks out the company of Lady Éowyn. Dismayed at the pall that has fallen over her, he attempts to comfort her as best he can.
Relationships: Merry Brandybuck & Éowyn, Merry Brandybuck/Éowyn
Comments: 17
Kudos: 31





	The Healing of Hurts

Merry awoke the day after Aragorn departed, finding his legs no longer content to lay under his covers, nor his mind in his room. And he arose, and put on his tunic, and out his chamber door he went, to the Warden of the Houses of healing.

"Sir," He said, "Begging your pardon, but the Lady Éowyn, does she yet dwell in the houses?"

"Of course, master perian," The Warden answered, "But though the King has returned her to life, yet her health hangs still in the balance, and she will need rest for many a day ere she leaves my care."

"Oh, that's well and good, Sir," He said, "But could you tell me where her rooms are? We were together, on the battlefield, and it feels only proper that I call on her."

The Warden directed him down a certain Hallway, and so he came to the chambers of the Lady Éowyn, to find her sitting up in bed, staring out the window that hung above it, yet her eye focused on nothing. When he entered, she turned, and smiled, a small smile but Merry could feel the sun behind it, all the same, the sun and surprise, as if even she found it strange she could make such an expression.

"Meriadoc," she spoke, inclining her neck slightly, "I am heartened to see you. I told my brother that he should make you a Knight of the Riddermark, for all you have done. And yet, you are stuck here, the same as me, are you not?"

"I am," he cried, padding quicking to her bedside, "But what of you? I am certain you took the more grievous wounds, and my heart is made much lighter to see you already awake."

"Awake, perhaps, and better, in body," she said, and now her smile dipped into frost, cold and mirthless, "but in soul, tis another question."

A compulsion took Merry then, and he leaned over to clasp the hand of her sword arm, where it lay over her coverlet. Éowyn looked down at it, then at his face, but she did not gainsay him or pull her hand away, and her face looked sadly blank.

"Oh, Lady Éowyn," Merry said, "King Théoden asked after you, in the moments before he died. I wish I could have bought you to him, but I... wanted you to know that he thought of you, that he loved you like a daughter, and that I grieve with you. We were to speak of herb-lore together, after the war..."

"My Brother told me as much, as well. But nay," Éowyn replied, shaking her head, "Théoden King is to be envied, not mourned, for in his death, noble on the battlefield, he has both honor and peace, while we must lie like dotards, or like cattle awaiting slaughter."

"Éowyn..." Merry looked up at her now, his eyes full of compassion and concern, "Oh Éowyn, do you truly believe so?"

"Do you not, Master Meriadoc?" She answered back, her voice soft, but with a hollow quality, as an ancient withered tree in the Old Forest, "For we rode to battle together, even when we were bade to stay, to take our share of honor before the doom came."

"We wanted to help the people we love," Merry murmured, squeezing her hand again, "And we did. And now we can pray that the war is over, and we may live to see brighter days."

"Brighter days?" Éowyn answered, "What brighter days can there be, for us who were left behind? Who now wait for the dark forces of Mordor to come?" Her eyes flashed in anger, but Merry sensed it was not at him, but at the hopelessness she felt at their lot, left behind.

"Well," He said, "Strider, you know, he's always been a a good man. We wouldn't have made it this far without him, even if I feel like we've been a weight on him, you know, ever since we met him, all the way back in Bree. And Frodo, well, he's made of stern stuff, and Sam... well, Sam would take on every Orc in Mordor to keep him safe, and probably win too. I kept telling him, 'Sam, you know the Baggins have never really cared about Status all that much, I think if you told him how you feel, you might be surprised at what happens!' But Sam's just too proper for that, the poor boy."

Éowyn blinked at Merry, a bit nonplussed. 

"Oh!" Merry blushed now, looking up at her sheepishly, "I'm sorry, Lady Éowyn, I got carried away, I suppose. We Hobbits always have had more words than sense, and Pip and me more than most, ask Gandalf about that and he'll tell you. All I mean is. I think if anyone can get us through this, it's Strider, and Frodo, and Sam, and Pip and Gimli and Legolas, as well."

Éowyn shook her head, "No, no, you have nothing to be sorry for. You have given me much to think about. Yet I fear I cannot see beyond this darkness, not yet. So I must ask you, whose sight is different from mine own: what of you, Master Meriadoc? What do you see beyond the darkness?"

"I..." Merry faltered, not out of unsurety, but he felt a tension between them, as if Éowyn was waiting, waiting for something that neither of them could name. He felt a warmth in his chest, a sorrow, as he looked upon that face, almost as sad now as it had been when she stood beside Théoden, when Grima Wormtongue poisoned his heart. He wondered, then, how much poison had Wormtongue dispensed, that scoundrel? Were Théoden's the only ears to be sullied?

"I see myself back in Shire," he said, finally. 

"The Shire? Would such a place truly be enough, after all you have seen?" Éowyn murmured.

Merry nodded, "Well, I was saying to Pip, yesterday, that I've seen the high places, and I love them, I think. But much of what I've learned from them, the sword and shield and all that, I don't love them for what they are, I love what I can protect with them. The people and everything. And the Shire... The soil is dark, and rich, and deep, and once you have roots there, it's hard to dig them up. So. I'd go back to the Shire. I'd spend some time at Brandybuck Hall, some time at the old Smials with Pip and his family. Probably at Bag End too, if Sam and Frodo need help recovering, after they come back. And I'd go exploring. Most Hobbits aren't explorers really, but I'm part Took, and Tooks have been explorers more often, you see, and... I think I've gotten used to it a bit, since coming with Frodo and the rest. So I'd start exploring some of the forests and the meadows we've never really mapped. Maybe I'd see if I can find the Ent-wives."

"The... Entwives?" Éowyn cocked her head in interest, even despite herself.

"Well, you see, The Ents of Fangorn, the ones who helped us take out old Saruman," He said, "Pip and I spent our fair share of time with them, and their wives disappeared a while back, you see. And I've been thinking, there's always been rumors of walking trees out in some places, you'll get one of the old gaffers or some farmer who spent too long out in his field one night saying they saw a whole tall willow tree just walking across a field somewhere. Most people will just laugh and tell them to lay off the beer a little bit, but now I wonder. What if it's them?"

"And... what would you do, if it was them?" Éowyn murmured. 

"I don't know," Merry hummed meditatively to himself, "I suppose I'd ask them why they left. Tell them their husbands miss them. And see what they thought about the whole thing. Treebeard said they were good gardeners, maybe I'd get a few tips from them to give old Sam. Or maybe I'd have garden of my own. I've stolen enough vegetables in my day, it might be nice to grow some of my own sometime. I've always wanted to grow mushrooms. I wonder if the Entwives grow mushrooms. And if they use Ent-draught to water them. Vegetables and mushrooms grown with Ent-draught. Wouldn't that be a thing to see?"

For a moment, Merry lost himself, pensively mapping out the places out near the old Took smials where he though the Entwives most likely to establish their gardens. After a moment though, he remembered where he was.

"Oh," he cried, "I am sorry, Éowyn. I feel like a fool, gabbing on about my plans and leaving you to listen. You should tell me something too. I would like to hear of Rohan, I think, for I was to talk with Théoden about many things while we sat and smoked together, and I had many questions to ask him."

Éowyn smiled again at the hobbit, and the smile was sad, but not as bitter as before, Merry noted hopefully, and there was even a shining at the corner of her eyes.

"You have no need to apologize, Merry," she said, and Merry felt a warmth buzzing in his chest at the use of his nickname, a pleasant feeling as of drowsy honeybees in summer, heralding sweetness, "For I did ask you, and your answer was a comfort. And yet I do not think I could give you a story in return like you wanted. For so long I thought Rohan and the house of Eorl to be cast down in the darkest depths of squalor, and to remember what it was when I delighted in the house of my king, I am not sure I can."

Merry nodded, squeezing her hand once more. The sorrow in her eyes had returned, and he felt himself a fool, wondering if he has requested too much, pushed her too far. And yet, he wanted to comfort her all the same.

"I wasn't going to smoke Pipeweed, ever again," He said. 

"Merry?" Éowyn looked at him, her face a picture of confusion.

"It didn't feel right, since I couldn't do it with King Théoden, like I promised him," he said, "But the others, the said to me, they said I should, in his memory, and I have, and it's helped. I can't really describe it, but I feel like his warmth is there, like even if we can't talk, somehow the memory of him just hangs around with my smoke rings, and I can remember how welcome and wanted he made me feel. And..."

He stopped a bit, ending in a stammer, as he looked up at Éowyn's face. She stared at him, with soft eyes, and for the first time, she slipped her hand into his, where they lay on the coverlets, and squeezed back. 

"Well, I know you're still recovering," he continued, a warmth rising to his cheeks as he was suddenly aware of the palms of their hands touching together, "And I won't insist you do anything you don't want to. But. If you feel better, in a day or two, you know, I have a spare pipe, and enough weed, and we could just sit, and smoke together, and maybe talk about herb-lore and Rohan, or just sit and remember the King together."

"Do you have the pipes now?" Éowyn said.

"Oh," Merry cried, "What do you know, I keep a pouch on my belt, so here's a good bit, and my backup pipes! Here, you take the good one, I can use the spare this time, and I know I keep flint and tinder here somewhere..."

In a moment, Merry had their bowls packed, and as he leaned over to hand one to Éowyn, he thought he saw on her face for the first time a true, unguarded, happy smile, and her eyes twinkled in merriment.

And so they sat, and smoked, and Merry regaled her with the history of longbottom leaf, and finally, after a time, Éowyn spoke of her childhood with Éomer, of raising horses, of Windfola, and of days spent riding across the green plains, letting the wind carry her wherever it would. And then she spoke of Théoden, how he accepted them into his hall, and saw that they were well comforted even after the death of their parents. And there, upon Merry's shoulder, she finally cried, tears of sorrow for the man who loved her as a daughter, whom she loved as a father.

\---

From that time forth, Merry and Éowyn were rarely parted, and while Merry healed of his wounds more quickly than the Lady Éowyn, neither would he leave the Houses of Healing until he knew she, too, had recovered fully, in body and soul alike. And for Éowyn's part, she would not be parted from Merry, for more than anyone, he had healed the harms of her soul, and allowed her to see past the darkness that gripped her, that there might be hope for the future. 

\---

So it was that as they strolled together in the Gardens only a scant few days later, that the tidings of the Eagle came from the East, singing of the triumph of the army, and Éowyn looked down at Merry beside her as he stared up at the Eagle.

"Do you think they shall return safely, now, Merry?" She murmured.

"I do," He replied, his eyes flashing, "Pip and Strider and Gimli and Legolas, and Éomer, and Frodo and Sam. I'd bet all the Pipeweed in the Shire on it."

"Then I shall believe it as well," She said with a fond smile, "that you shall finally get to see the Shire beyond the darkness, after all."

Then he in turn looked to her, and his heart began to beat wildly in his chest at the fondness on her face, "and what of you, Éowyn? Do you see beyond the darkness yet? What will you do, now that it clears? What will you be?"

"I have wished to be many things, these past months," she said, "A shieldmaiden. A warrior. A Queen. A dead woman. But now I am none of those, nor would I wish to be. For I fear, Master Meriadoc, that your words have changed my heart, or else revealed to me what was already there. For now, all I wish, is for a little garden, and days full of laughter, and merriment, and good food and beer and pipeweed, and a doughty horse, and many miles of land to explore, yet always, at the end of the day, to come back to a little house, and to the one that I love."

"Then..." Merry fidgeted, just for a moment, but his heart raced ahead of his nerves, "Then... Éowyn, if that's what you want, you could come with me, back to the Shire. We could plant a Garden together, and I could build a house big enough for you and a stable big enough for Windfola, and we could search for the Entwives together, and I could show you all the places of the Shire that are full of all the laughter and merriment and beer you could wish for!"

"And the one that I love, waiting for me at the end of the day?" She replied, her eyes now fully shining with warmth and mirth.

"Well, at the very least, the one who loves you, though most days he might be by your side instead of waiting, if you permit it. He always feels better when he's at your side," Merry looked up at her boldly, but he fidgeted with his hands, his cheeks so hot that a healer might suspect his fever was returning.

But Éowyn only knelt down, and gathered him into her arms, "Then it is well," She said, "That the one I love and the one who loves me, are finally, and forever, one and the same."

And so the perian and the Lady of Rohan kissed on the Battlements, and many who were near saw, and yet neither cared, and they remained inseparable until the King's Army came again to the gates of Minas Tirith, and Merry rode out to reunite joyfully not only with Pippin, but with Sam and Frodo as well, and even then Éowyn came with him to meet her brother.

\---

Many days later, upon the closing of the funeral feast of King Théoden, King Éomer stood, and cried, "Now this is the funeral feast of Théoden the King; but I will speak ere we go of tidings of joy, for he would not grudge that I should do so, since he was ever a father of Éowyn my sister. Hear then all my guests, fair folk of many realms, such as have never before been gathered in this hall! Meriadoc of the Shire, Knight and Holdwine of the Mark, asks that Éowyn Lady of Rohan should be his wife, and she grants it full willing. Therefore they shall be trothplighted before you all."

And Merry and Éowyn stood forth and set hand in hand; and all there drank to them and were glad, and they of the Fellowship toasted loudest and happiest of all.

\---

When the last of the guests were departing, Merry and Éowyn stood before Éomer.

And Éomer said to Merry: "Kings of old would have laden you with gifts that a wain could not bear for your deeds upon the fields of Mundburg; and yet you will take naught, you say, but the arms that were given to you."

"But Éomer," answered Merry, "I leave now with the fairest gift of your realm, a gift I would desire more than any gold you could muster!"

Éowyn blushed at that, and Éomer smiled himself as well. 

"She was never mine to give, as well you know," he replied, "But yet such a declaration is well said. And in anticipation of the coming day of your nuptials, I would bestow my wedding gift now."

Then Éomer gave to Merry and Éowyn an ancient horn, small but cunningly wrought all of fair silver with a baldric of green; and wrights had engraven upon it swift horsemen riding in a line that wound about it from the tip to the mouth; and there were set runes of great virtue.

"Brother! You would give us such a gift?" said Éowyn, the disbelief and gratefulness in her voice evident alike. Then she turned to her betrothed to explain the significance of such a mighty gift, "It was made by the Dwarves, and came from the hoard of Scatha the Worm. Eorl the Young brought it from the North. He that blows it at need shall set fear in the hearts of his enemies and joy in the hearts of his friends, and they shall hear him and come to him."

Then Merry took the horn, for it could not be refused, and Éomer embraced him as a brother, and his sister as well, and so they parted for that time, with promises to meet again soon, when the marriage banns were posted in Hobbiton.

\---

When the Ruffians of Sharkey set upon the Hobbits in the Battle of Bywater, it is said that Meriadoc Brandybuck was untouchable not only due to the strength of his arm, but due to the fierceness of the foreign shieldmaiden who fought beside him, who would not let orc nor human come within a foot of the general. And if any Hobbit thought it too strange that Meriadoc the Magnificent had bought back a tall human bride from his adventures, the devotion with which she defended him in that battle, and the adoration in his eyes when he looked up on her, stilled any active complaint, though many a young Hobbit wept bitterly in secret that their chance with him was over before they knew they wanted it.

And as for Éowyn, she stood behind Frodo when the last of the fellowship came to Bag End, and found Saruman and Wormtongue. And she felt no fear or pity at the sight of the man who had nearly destroyed her father, so much diminished, nor did she mourn his death, but from that day forward, she remembered his end, pathetic and small, the end of a traitor, and let his words poison her thoughts no more. Instead, she dedicated herself to healing all that had been wounded, as Merry had once healed her, and she was a great help in the restoration of the Shire, and she and Samwise became great friends as they laboured together.

\---

In the years that followed, Meriadoc Brandybuck would make good on his word to the Lady Éowyn. For a time, they lived with Pippin at Crickhollow, which Frodo gifted to them, but when it became obvious that any normal Hobbit House would barely hold him, much less his wife, Merry built a new burrow with tall ceilings and large doors just next to Brandybuck Hall, with a small garden out back, and a stable with stalls for both Hobbit Ponies and Human Horses. On some days, they would spend long hours roaming the outskirts of the Shire, even sleeping under the stars instead of returning home, some nights. But most nights, they would return, and smoke pipeweed on the front porch, speaking softly between themselves. And some years, they would ride east to visit Éomer, and other years, he would ride west with his retinue to visit their lands. 

Finally, many years later, they gave mastery of their house to their first-born, Théoden, and rode East, back to the green fields of Rohan, for the final time, and Pippin came with them. So they stayed in Rohan until their deaths, and the people rejoiced at the return of their beloved Lady, and Meriadoc was hailed once again as Holdwine of the Mark and always given great praise as the husband of Éowyn and a hero of the great war. And when they died, they were buried together in a great barrow, together in death as they were in life.


End file.
